The Final War
by lacerated goths and teddies
Summary: The battles weren't over for any of them, the war was only just beginning ... ON HIATUS - it will be updated, but I don't know when yet, will do my best :D
1. Chapter 1

Dear Reviewers,

I present you with the re-done first chapter of "The Final War", and I hope it pleases

Enjoy!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Daniel 'Danny' Fenton was one of the weirder children at school. Not because of his complete inability to stay upright for more than two seconds. Not for his over-protective older sister who insisted on psycho-analysing every child unlucky enough to be caught in her path, and certainly not for his parents, Amity-Park's resident ghost-hunters who constantly wore haz-mat suits. No, instead, it was due to the fact that wherever Danny went, weird and often, rather unpleasant things occurred. The student body were at a loss at how this happened, but ever since kindergarten, where a shy Danny had grinned, tripped over his feet and exploded the fish tank on the _other_ side of the classroom, they knew Danny was trouble.

[This had enamoured him to a certain Samantha Manson, who had to wear a black dress to replace the sopping wet pink one, and to Tucker Foley, who had been being told off by **Mrs.** Welchett (never Miss) for trying to hack into her computer, who was distracted by the incident and completely forgot Tucker.]

The teachers felt the same. Reports of Danny's "unfortunate incidents" had followed him from Kindergarten all the way to Casper High School, and instead of reducing due to his growing up, becoming more mature (supposedly), they were on the increase, and had been increasing over the last year to the point that Mr Lancer almost felt there was no point in punishing the gangly fourteen year old for them. Going over the register for English, he made it all the way to poor Mikey Welman (who once again had been wedgied to the point that his underwear was pulled over his head) without any sign of Danny, and he knew that Danny would burst in late, with a pathetic excuse, and then sit in the lesson and fall asleep on the desk. It was traditional, in a weird surreal sort of way, even with the constant ghost attacks that made everyone in Casper High twitch and duck if any strange noises happened around them.

_3...2...1..._ thought Mr Lancer in his head, as he began to talk to the class about the wonders of Wordsworth's poetry, and was rewarded by Danny bursting through the door, leaning against the frame to catch his breath, and beginning to start the excuse, that Mr Lancer almost repeated verbatim along with Danny.

_Seeing the principal, couldn't he think of anything more original? _Mr Lancer thought in despair, and then gave up on trying to understand Danny Fenton. If his sister, who had been using him as a test-subject since the poor child was four, couldn't figure him out, then no one else had a chance.

Sending him to sit down before Mr Lancer exploded in sheer exasperation at Daniel Fenton, Ron went back to explaining to the bored class the wonder of Wordsworth, attempting to interest them by talking about his connections with the French Revolution, and how Wordsworth had a mistress and an illegitimate child, before losing all hope of actually getting any of his ninth grade class to show an interest in English Literature, and wearily telling them to read and make notes on "Tintern Abbey". Mikey of course was the exception to this, eagerly offering comments on Wordsworth, and Lancer could see Dash and his cronies readying themselves to stuff him in the nearest locker after the lesson was finished. With a brief look at Danny, who was already collapsed on his desk, snoring slightly, and seeing the concerned look passed between Sam and Tucker, he realised that at this moment in time, only another cup of sludge – formerly known as coffee – would render him able to deal with the rest of the lesson. With a brief barked command at the rest of the class to do their work, or by the power of the one ring, he would give them all detention for the rest of the month; he trudged out of the hell-hole known as a ninth-grade lesson...

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Unfortunately Mr Lancer, although an able teacher, who could judge the mood of a class and react accordingly, had made an error. It wasn't Mikey that due a pounding, it was Danny. As the door closed upon the class, Dash had jumped the desks that separated the sleeping Danny from his fist, and had pinned him against the wall. Yelling in pain as the wall made contact with recent bruises, Danny fought to be released from the hands that held him pinned against the wall, as Dash growled

"How the hell did you get out of the locker? You freak!!"

Unable to say that he phased through the locker into the vacant boy's bathroom, Danny frantically sought for an excuse that wouldn't involve him getting beaten up by the school's star quarterback (co-incidentally, their prize stooge).

"The door gave way, I fell, Jesus Christ Dash, take a break! Torture some other kid!"

Paulina and Star looked up from their manicures, and spoke in creepy unison, "do not invoke the Lord's name in vain", before going back to their previous conversation.

"Like anyway, he was all 'how can I get you to be mine', and I was all like 'as if! Like, why would I go out with someone who ISN'T Phantom!"

"Like, I know! Phantom is so dreamy, oh, and like, have you heard what Stacy's little sister's best friend has done?"

"Like, durr, how would I not?"

Danny took a brief moment to give himself a mental high-five at how two of the most popular and pretty girls in Casper High thought his alter-ego was dreamy, and then was dragged back into the present by Sam's angry yelling at Dash.

"Are you that imbecilic that you think that beating up someone is a good way to spend your time Dashier Baxter? If you are unable to think beyond food and sport, no wonder you're only good at football! You absolute waste of human breath, plants wouldn't even eat you! I mean ..."

_Dashiel? How the hell did Sam know that? _thought Danny, then concentrated again on trying anything to get Dash to let go while he was distracted by Sam's impassioned speech. Desperately looking around the classroom, he saw Mikey hiding in the corner in case they decided to start on him, Tucker being pinned to his desk by Kwan's massive strength, Valerie doodling on her notepad and paying no attention to the chaos barely three feet from her, and on Lancer's desk, a paperweight which was to all intents and purposes, a large brick. Focusing on the brick, Danny willed it with his mind, praying to every single god he could think of to move that paperweight to knock Dash in the head, and get him to release his iron grip on Danny's shoulders.

Luckily for Danny, his prayers were answered, as with a resulting "THUMP!" the brick flew across the room, barely missing Dash's head, and hit the wall with said THUMP, causing a dent in the brickwork. Dash, in shock at his bare-miss, let go of Danny, and he scrambled away to where Tucker had managed to worm himself free from Kwan's hold, and they both huddled behind Sam (who scowled at their cowardice, and tutted. Boys). Gingerly moving forward, Dash carefully poked the non-moving brick, before turning to glare at Danny.

"You did that ... You freak ... always making weird stuff happen ...", while stepping forward with a menacing air, towards the hapless Danny, cowering behind Sam, who rolled her sleeves up, ready to cause pain (both emotional and physical).

"I swear, I don't know what happened!" Danny yelled out, knowing it was no use. Even though he didn't touch it, even though he tried to be as normal as being half-ghost would let him, this sort of stuff did always happen around him, ever since the fish-tank incident in Kindergarten.

At that moment, Mr Lancer walked back through the door, cup of sludge in hand, ready to face his rebellious ninth-graders, and saw the scene of destruction. Dash immediately spoke out:

"Sir! It was Danny sir! He did it! Him!", and with a glare at the class, everyone agreed.

Mr Lancer looked at Danny, hearing the three musketeers (as he referred to them in his head) protest, but it was unfortunately a class of at least twenty, against three. Even Mikey spoke against them (unbeknown to Lancer, due to his arm being twisted behind his back by one of Dash's stooges). With a sigh, he spoke to Danny.

"Mr Fenton, go to the Principal's office. I'll call your parents."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Mr and Mrs Fenton, this is the two HUNDREDTH and twenty-second time that Danny has been sent here in the last year, I'm afraid that enough is enough", intoned Principal Ishiyama, narrowing her eyes over her steepled fingers at the couple sitting in the chairs in front of the desk. Madeline Fenton sat with her arm over Danny in the seat next to her (as much a comfort as a method of making sure that he didn't bolt), and Jack? Well, he was busy fiddling with a random piece of glowing putty. She sighed.

"Mrs Fenton (having decided to refer to the more sensible of the two), Danny can no longer able to stay at our school, perhaps he could move to another school in the district? Jasper High is always looking for new students". Principal Ishiyama tried to smile encouragingly at Danny's mother, while her brain threw out scenarios of how the Board of Governors would take yet another expulsion.

"Mom, I'm sorry! It really wasn't my fault, honest!" Danny tried to protest yet again at the unfair treatment, but Madeline's hand clamped itself on its mouth to stop him from worsening the situation.

"Look Maddie! The ectoplasm has lasted over 4 hours now, even with the added corn flour!"

Maddie pinched the bridge of her nose to try and fend off the approaching migraine caused by the males in her family.

"Principal Ishiyama, please reconsider Danny's expulsion" she pleaded. "Jasper High have refused to take him on due to his school record, the only other public schools in the Waukegan district are too far to travel during the day, and we can't afford to send him to a private school. Please, I promise he won't do this again! Just give him one more chance!"

Principal Ishiyama's face softened slightly, and she leaned over the desk.

"I'm sorry Mrs Fenton, but he's had too many chances, he has to go".

At that moment, the ectoplasm exploded.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Sam? Remind me again why we're climbing the wall of Danny's house?" Tucker asked plaintively, hanging on for dear life.

"Did you not SEE the mess in Ishiyama's office? There's no way Danny's parents are going to let him near the outside world before the end of the next decade. Now shut up and keep climbing!"

This retort was yelled a few feet further up the Fenton's house, by Sam who had climbed the wall with the ease and grace of a cat, and was now banging on Danny's window to try and get his attention.

"Of course we COULD have used the hoverboard, which would have saved SO much time and effort!" replied Tucker angrily, who was climbing the wall with the ease and grace of a large, unwieldy, fridge.

"And how would you have got that past the Fenton Ward Tuck?" asked Danny, who quickly pulled Tucker up the rest of the way, and helped him in through the window. Standing up and brushing himself down (with a quick glare at Sam who was lounging on the bed), he spoke with pride:

"The same way I hacked the school network in Kindergarten – with my sheer skill and awesomeness!"

"And my exploding of the fish tank, don't forget that will you" spoke Danny, laughing as he sat on the bed, and Tucker threw himself next to him ('accidently' landing on Sam's legs), and gave Danny a high-five.

"As if! You never told us how you did that Danny", and Danny shrugged.

"You think I know? Besides, weird things happening are my speciality", and he pulled a stupid pose.

Sam, who by now had managed to get Tucker off her legs via threats of not letting him play on the game system at her house, said in a concerned tone, "We know Danny, but they didn't get you expelled before. Have your parents found another school yet here that'll take you? Or ..." her voice tailed off, and even Tucker looked serious. Danny looked down at his hands.

"They ... were talking about my dad's old school ... the one he went to before meeting my mom ... Dad said that they'd been wanting me to go for years, maybe now was the right time for me. Mom didn't look happy at that, cue the hiding up here while they 'talk' it out."

"But wasn't that outside of America? What about money? And wasn't it in -"

"Britain? Yeh ... but Mom wasn't angry about that; Dad was saying how the fees wouldn't be much more than what they were paying in taxes and food for me and my education. Nah ... I don't know what she was angry about, but it wasn't good".

From downstairs they could hear the rumbling bass voice of Jack trying to calm down Maddie, but then a burst of fury echoed throughout the house.

"Jack I don't care how many times you're removed from him, but he's still a mass murderer! He even escaped from the Dementors, and you say that Danny won't be killed?!! Jack -"

"Maddie, that's over now and you know it!" Jack's voice roared like an Airbus A380 taking off barely five feet above them. "Danny needs to know, we can't protect him forever! It was pure luck that Jazz hasn't shown the signs, but Danny has, and we can't ignore his lack of control!"

"He needs control?? He was fine! You on the other hand, blowing up that ectoplasm because of your anger??! You're the one that needs the control! We left that, YOU left that, so we, he, Jazz, our FAMILY wouldn't be hurt, or killed!!"

In the silence that followed in the house, Maddie's quiet voice was voiced as clear as if she was still in full flow, interspersed with sobs.

"I don't want him to die like James and Lily ... I ..."

Sam, Tucker and Danny looked at each other, in shock of the news, and fear in Maddie's voice. Quietly, Danny spoke low, and worried.

"I didn't know ... I thought Uncle Sirius had died, that's why Dad never spoke of him..."

Tucker shuffled over, and laid his arm over Danny's shoulder.

"Dude, I've got a feeling this is your only option for school, I mean, your dad sounded pretty sure about it ..."

Sam leant against Danny and laid her arm over his other shoulder.

"Whatever happens Danny, we're here for you, even if that means by e-mail and long-distance phone calls. And if you do need us? We can use my grandfather's jet."

Tucker sat up in shock. "When did your grandfather get a jet? Is it a Cessna? Is it the Citation X, their new model? Why didn't you tell us before?" tuning to Danny, he exclaimed "Dude, it goes at 700 miles an hour!"

Danny laughed, letting the worry that he might be separated from his best friends fade for the moment, as he listened to them argue, voices rising in anger at the littlest of things. Looking at his phone, he saw a text from Jazz, and slipped away from the argument to read it. Danny looked back at his friends as he read, and his heart sank. Jazz had texted that she was on her way up, and that Dad and Mom were going to explain what was going on. The warning, made him strain his ears for a sign that someone was heading up the stairs. A tell-tale creak on the seventh stair made him yell and break up his best friend's argument.

"Quiet you guys! Someone's coming up the stairs!" Danny panicked, and fairly threw the two of them out the window. Sam abseiled down quickly and detached the rope, and ran. Tucker on the other hand, barely managed to avoid splatting on the sidewalk like strawberry jam, and then hit his head on the rope's attachment, before running himself. Danny leaned out the window to check the coast was clear, and turned back to the door, to see Jazz enter the room and stand nervously in the open doorway.

"Danny?"

"Jazz what's going on? Why are they arguing?"

Jazz stepped forward, and briefly hugged Danny, before turning and starting to head out of the room. As she left, she spoke, chilling Danny to the bone.

"Danny ... I'm sorry ... but you're ... different. And ... it's not the fact that you're half-ghost."


	2. Chapter 2

As he stepped through the living room door, he saw his mom and dad sitting on the couches, and even his dad wasn't fiddling with anything, a mark of how serious the situation was. He turned to his mom, and asked the question which had been gnawing at his insides since kindergarten, and had only grown in magnitude since becoming a halfa.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?"

His dad sighed a deep rumble of a sigh, and indicated a space on the other couch, where Jazz was already sitting, hands twisting in her lap.

"Danny, there's a lot to explain. I – I mean your mom and I have spoken to my old school, and they're glad to take you for the next school year until your education is finished. You'll be able to come back for the holidays if you want, though a British Christmas is something to behold! There's so much food, and things to play with, and though it rains, the lights in London and Glasgow!" Jack went into a small reverie at the thought of Christmases gone, and Maddie elbowed him sharply in his side, making him yell in pain and look hurtly at Maddie's annoyed face. Danny looked at Jazz, and was relieved to see her also try and hold back a giggle. _At least some things haven't changed_, Danny thought, and received a poke himself by Jazz, turning back to their Mom who had started talking.

"Danny, the thing is, this school ... you should have really gone when you were 11, but ... we didn't want you to. We thought you'd be better here; after all, it's such a long way to travel for school. But now? We can't teach you here, no other school is available ... it's the only option ..." Maddie's voice wobbled as she sniffed, and Jack took over.

"The school is for people who are different ... special Danny! You'll learn so much I promise! Professor Dumbledore is the best wizard in the world! And the ghosts are amazing! Except Peeves, but you won't see him_** allll **_the time, and stay out of the way of the Bloody Baron, he's scary." Jack spoke in excitement, and then saw Danny's shocked face.

"Dad .... A wizard? Magic doesn't exist" Danny spoke warily, as though speaking to a mad man.

Jazz interjected, "and ghosts do? Danny it's theoretically possible that magic does indeed exist."

"That's what you said when you tried to attach me to the ceiling when I was three Jazz, that argument doesn't work now!" Danny retorted.

Maddie stepped in with a soothing voice, "Danny its true. Magic does exist; in fact through our research we've worked out that the ectoplasmic energy that feeds a ghost is made up of magic! Your father studied at Hogwarts, because he's a wizard."

Danny sat with a gaping mouth, as Jack searched the room, mumbling that "it must be here somewhere, I only used it yesterday to clean the fridge, hmm ... ah-ha!", as he pulled a long stick from the vase, gave it a brush off to remove the water, and with a wave and a mutter, turned the coffee table into a balloon and back again.

Jazz waved her hands in front of Danny's motionless face, slightly worried by his lack of reaction, but the inside of Danny's head was too busy being a hurricane of thoughts and feelings. Swirled in with the panic, the _what the hell just happened Dad did magic this is impossible_ and the _I'm magic I'm part ghost my god how do I turn things into another_, slowly surfaced the thought: _Can Mom and Jazz do that?_

"No Danny, I can't, nor can Jazz" spoke his mother, startling Danny who hadn't realised that he spoke out loud.

"But I can?"

"Go ahead son, try it!" and Jack proffered the stick _no, wand_ at Danny.

Gingerly, fearing that he'd set something on fire, Danny took the wand, and felt the smoothness, and raised knots of wood, and something pulsing underneath the wood. He looked up at his dad.

"It's been in my family for generations Danny, go, wave it, and see what happens."

He looked down at the wand, and felt a sense of excitement bubble up, the same sense that he felt when he first learnt to fly, when he looked at the stars. He gave a small wave, and from the point of the wand, stars flew gently, and formed a small, gently spinning constellation in the centre of the room. Gazing in awe, he lowered the wand, and looked at his family, who had beaming smiles of happiness. Danny beamed back, and unthinkingly, twitched the wand in his hand.

The stars reformed into a sphere, and exploded.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"So you're really a wizard Danny? Man that's almost as cool as being able to spy on the girl's locker-room without being seen!" Tucker exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Sam narrowed her eyes, and tapped the table with her fingers in suspicion. Tucker hurriedly back-tracked, "Not, that you would EVER do such a thing Danny, for it would be wrong – and bad – and – not – good ...", he edged away from Sam's line of boot-kicking, and pleaded with Danny to say more about magic, and distract Sam from the inadvertent revelation. Danny, also edging away, tried to smile winningly at Sam, and received a pointed glare that made him tug at his collar nervously, and carry on talking.

"Yeh, it is really cool, Dad's been spending the last week bringing out all his old spell books, his old potions stuff and that, Mom's been talking of how they met, and Jazz ... well, she's been really helpful, but has started the notebook again."

Sam laughed, and both boys sighed in relief.

"The same notebook she had when she was documenting all the weird stuff you did when you were little?"

"The very same."

Looking around at the Nasty Burger's clientele, Tucker noticed Dash and Kwan playing with their PSP's, and quickly tapped out a command on his PDA that caused the PSP's to explode in their faces. In the ensuing chaos, he turned back to Danny and Sam, who were laughing at Tucker's hacking skills.

"So after that opportunity, when are you leaving?"

Danny stopped laughing, and looked at his best friends.

"Dad's taking us to London next week, and then I get on the train to Scotland on the 1st September, to Hogwarts."

Sam hugged Danny and Tucker. "Well that means we've got a week to relax, party and sort out the ghost-hunting duties", she smiled, and Danny and Tucker grinned back.

"Err guys ... about the ghost-hunting" Danny spoke, as a wisp of blue smoke escaped his mouth, and a screaming voice yelled "GHOST!!!!"

As the Nasty Burger panicked and ran, Danny looked at his friends. _Even with the revelations, I still have to fight ghosts, _he thought, as he transformed to fight the latest menace to hit Amity Park.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The atmosphere in London, or more specifically, no 12 Grimmauld Terrace, was the complete opposite. Tension filled the dank house, from the highest bedrooms where Fred and George plotted and schemed, to the dark, dingy cupboard where Kreacher grumbled and made quiet threats. It was no different in the crowded kitchen, where Molly Weasley was trying and failing to make Harry's hair stay flat. In despair, she flung her wand onto the table, picked up a cloth and proceeded to scrub Harry's face clean.

"Well if your hair won't stay flat, at least you'll be clean in front of the Wizegamot!" Molly said in retort to Harry's protests that it was him on trial not his appearance, and Sirius muffled a snort of laughter behind his newspaper. Eventually Arthur rescued Harry, and took him through to his trial, stepping carefully to avoid waking up Mrs Black's portrait. In the silence that followed, Sirius finished the newspaper, and started opening his letters, trying to avoid antagonising Molly further, the uneasy peace since the night of the order meeting just holding. Molly furiously stirred the soup for lunch, and started kneading the bread as though she was pummelling someone's face in. Sirius opened his mouth, about to ask whether Molly had seen the garden yet, and the furious "What!" that escaped from Molly's mouth made Sirius mutter "nothing", and bury himself in working out the handwriting that Dumbledore had recently adopted.

"Molly, can you read what Dumbledore is trying to say? His handwriting looks like a spider has thrown itself into a pot of ink and had a convulsion on the paper."

Molly placed the rolls in the oven, and cleaned her hands.

"I can try", she replied as she sat down, and Sirius gratefully threw over the letter to her. Molly frowned as she attempted to decipher the squiggles, and she sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry Sirius, I can make out the words 'new student', but that's it."

"What's wrong?" asked Remus, clutching a cup of coffee, and looking like death warmed up. Molly gasped.

"Remus you've only just been through the change, you shouldn't be out of bed!"

"Molly, I can manage, I'm fine, now what's Dumbledore written? Maybe I can help, after deciphering Harry's scrawl on his essays, anything's readable."

Molly and Sirius smiled in rare agreement, and Molly passed over the letter. Remus's mouth moved slightly as he translated, and he frowned as he looked up.

"Sirius, Dumbledore's writing to ask if Harry, Ron and Hermione are available to help tutor a new student, who'll be arriving in Fifth year. His name is ... Daniel ...Phantom? ... Fenton? At least I think its Fenton. Dumbledore seems to think you'll know the name."

Sirius thought. "The name certainly sounds familiar, but I don't know ... Jack!" He pointed at Remus. "Jack Fenton! You remember! My cousin ... I think it's three times removed? Or four? The one who was fascinated by ghosts, remember?"

"Jack Fenton? My god, his son is coming to Hogwarts? Sirius, they moved to America fourteen years ago, when you were ..." Remus's voice tailed off as he remembered Sirius being dragged to Azkaban, and Sirius shuddered.

"Did ... he know that I was ... innocent?"

Remus looked at Sirius. "Sirius, even if he knew, he'd married a Muggle, their first-born had no magic, and their second was barely a year old. It was safer, for him, for all his family to leave us behind... I'm sorry."

Locked in the memories of fourteen years ago, Remus could see the fear on Jack and Maddie's face as they boarded the plane, a grizzling infant in Jack's arms, almost swallowed up by his enormous bulk, and the toddler gripping Maddie's hand as though it was a lifeline. He could hear Jack turning to him, "Remus ... it's not forever, we'll be back, and you can train Jazz and Danny in magic!"

"But I'm not even qualified to be a teacher Jack!" he could hear himself reply, and he could smell Maddie's reassurance, even as she spoke, "Remus honey, you'll be fine. Now go! Dumbledore's expecting you!"

Watching them board, he could see the little tuft of black hair in Jack's arm move, and sky-blue eyes opened, he swore just for him, as the family left London for America.

Jerking himself back into the moment, Remus asked Molly, "would Ron be happy to help tutor Danny?"

"Of course my son would", beamed Molly, "and he can make sure he doesn't end up in too much trouble, what with being a prefect!"

Sirius chuckled, as he remembered Ron's face disappearing that morning, dragged up the stairs in order to foil Fred and George's plots, and he wondered whether he would be able to deal with the son of Jack Fenton – bear-like man, deceptively simple, loyal to the end, and master of many a plot to rid the Black House of Kreacher.

_This should be interesting_ he thought, as a message arrived that Harry was acquitted of all charges, and watched Molly busy herself strong-arming every available hand to help with the dinner.

A bowl of potatoes landed in front of him, and with a further flick of her wand, Molly sent the peeler.

"Come on Sirius Black, those potatoes won't peel themselves!"

Looking for aid from Remus, he found the man with sleeves rolled up, already peeling carrots. Remus shrugged.

"It's safer than fighting it Sirius, she's the one who taught Ginny the Bat-Bogey Hex."


	3. Chapter 3

"Tucker, you there?"

"Danny you survived getting to England! Sam!" the last bit was hollered across the room to Sam, who was currently planning her latest campaign to change the lunch menu, "Danny's arrived in England! ARRGH!!"

Danny who was currently collapsed on his bed in the hotel room, shot up a few feet at the scream, and had a minor heart attack until Sam came on the phone.

"Danny?"

"Hey Sam, erm ... why the screaming?" he asked worriedly.

"Tucker refused to give me the phone", she replied in a matter-of-fact manner, un-nerving Danny who could hear Tucker's faint moans of pain in the background. "Anyway Danny, how was the journey? What's London like? Have you met any other wizards yet?"

"Cool it Sam", Danny laughed, "the journey was fine, Mom and Dad only asked to stop the plane twice to get rid of the 'inter-com ghost', London is absolutely manic, and yes, I have met other wizards. Dad took all of us to the wizard shopping mall, Diagon Alley. Oh my god it's amazing, they have shops for absolutely everything – from newt-eyes to broomsticks, and the bank is manned by goblins!"

"Goblins?" Sam asked, and Danny could hear her frown over the phone. "Are they paid?"

"I think so, but they're seriously creepy, they sound like a nasally Mr Lancer, but without the weird streak of niceness."

"Danny? Have you got your wand?" Tucker chimed in from the other end of the phone, and Danny figured that Sam had forgiven him for not passing the phone, and had put it on speaker. He looked down at the length of wood in his hand, and smiled.

"Yeh ... Dad and Mom almost cried, especially as it took so long to choose one..." Danny thought back to the time spent in Ollivander's, a pile of rejected wands building up on one side, his dad unable to stop fiddling with them (eventually being forcibly restrained by Maddie), and Jazz furiously scribbling in the notebook, until Ollivander pulled a box from a locked drawer, and carefully handed it over to Danny. Danny, already slightly weirded out by his milky white eyes and prescience, took it carefully, and Ollivander spoke with a small sense of awe.

"This wand Mr Fenton, is 11 ¾ inches, is made of oak and contains the hair of the shishi dog... a guardian ... of the spirit world Mr Fenton. An excellent wand for working against the Dark Arts", and Danny shivered at the knowing look on Ollivander's face. Grasping the wand, he could feel a strong, comforting presence, and he spoke in a firm tone: "this one. This one is the one".

With a strong, confident flick, he sent a burst of glowing green stars from the tip. Ollivander smiled, and merely gestured to the other wands, sending them sailing to their respective shelves, and as though nothing untoward had occurred, he asked Maddie and Jack to pay for their son's wand.

"What happens now?" asked Tucker and Sam, almost at the same time – from the other end of the phone.

"Well, we've got everything else, so now it's a case of waiting until the 1st. Dad said something about maybe visiting his grandparents, and of course I've still got loads to learn before I go to Hogwarts."

"Be careful Danny" said Sam, "I mean, not that you're not careful anyway, but you always seem to attract trouble."

Tucker agreed, "Have you been attacked by any ghosts yet?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah, they've been asking me to 'send them to the other side', sort out problems and stuff. They're not like the ghosts at Amity Park, they seem fairly nice – well, except for the one in the downstairs bathroom. He's horrible, but I just don't use that bathroom, he doesn't seem to leave it."

"Well ... I'm glad Danny", spoke Sam. "Now go and learn magic! And remember, we'll be there if you need us, I promise."

"I know guys, see you later, I'll write to you", and with the exchanging of goodbyes, Danny ended the call, leaning back on his bed, unconsciously turning the wand in circles. Sitting up, he saw the crowd of ghosts at the end of his bed, and sighed.

"Okay guys, which one was next to have their problems sorted?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

In Sirius' house, the same busy packing of school stuff was happening, causing Molly Weasley to tear her hair out in frustration at not only Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Harry and Hermione, but also Arthur, Sirius and Remus' attempts to hide from the packing frenzy. Their current plan was to barricade themselves in Sirius' room on 'important order business', and the combination of locking, privacy and shielding spells meant that even Molly – with all her years of experience in getting her family out of their rooms and out of trouble – couldn't get in to force them to help. However, she was not a mother for nothing, and she merely sent up a fresh home-baked cherry pie to sit outside the room, wafting the sweet heavenly smell inside. She knew that Arthur had never mastered a protection spell that guarded against smells, as it was her who had placed the one outside the attic where the ghoul resided.

Back in the kitchen, Molly busied herself with sewing labels in the collection of robes that were needed for the next school year, and making lunch. Her back turned, the twin's confined in their room, Harry and Ron being forced to practise spells by Hermione, in preparation for teaching Danny Fenton, and Ginny sullenly cutting up vegetables for the soup, she smiled, as the creak on the stairs heralded a head peeping round the door.

"Molly dear? Is it perhaps possible that we could have a spoon for the pie please?" Arthur asked.

"Ah, Arthur! And you Remus, and Sirius! While you're down, you can get the table set and the dishes washed, come on chop chop!"

Sirius stood tall and firm, ready to defend his honour.

"Mrs Weasley, this is my house, and while I am here I will not clean any dishes, no ma'am no more!"

Remus hid his head in his hands. It seemed Sirius STILL hadn't to pick his fights. Molly drew herself up, and spoke with the anger of a fully-coiled snake ready to strike.

"Well, _Mister Sirius Black_, perhaps you would be happy to no longer eat the food _**I**_ cook for you, and to no longer have a clean house?"

Remus and Arthur edged away from the suicidal Sirius. Noticing that his back-up had defected to the other side, and that Remus was frantically gesturing from behind Molly's back that to continue this would be tantamount to suicide, Sirius's shoulders slumped. Smiling winningly, Molly levitated the dishes into Sirius' hands.

"Thank you dear, for being _so _helpful."

Sirius muttered as he headed to the sink.

-x-x-x-x-x-

From the other end of the Extendable Ears that had been hanging in the doorway of the kitchen, Harry sniggered, and turned to Ron.

"Perhaps we should send your mum to get the Ministry on the side of the Order?"

Ron agreed. "That woman is an army in five feet of pure mother-ness."

"Really Ronald! That is hardly any way to talk about your mother!" Hermione interjected, face briefly appearing from behind the _'Teach Yourself OWL Standard magic in a week!'_ as she waved her wand to send Ron's owl from one end of the room to the other.

"It's true Hermione! Mum is a menace to those who get in her way!" Ron replied, getting his wand and rescuing Pig from Hermione's absent-minded menacing. "Besides, how is this going to help Danny? He's surely likely to have learnt levitation and locomotion spells! In fact, why don't we have a game of wizard chess? That's always much more fun!"

"Because Ron," replied a bored Harry, who had wound up the Extendable Ear, and was now sitting on the other bed, "you always win wizard chess, and apparently he hasn't learnt magic – he only found out a couple of weeks ago that he was a wizard."

"I wonder what house he'll be in" mused Hermione, turning the page to look at _'Chapter Five – Transfiguration Fun!'_, "it should be interesting, seeing as he's related to Sirius."

"He's related to Sirius? How?"

"His dad's Sirius's cousin three, four times removed. His mum and dad are some of the most eminent ghost-hunters and researchers in the whole of North America" replied Hermione, nose still buried, hand twitching as she practised the wand movements.

"But when did you find this out?" asked Harry.

Hermione marked her page, and shut her book.

"I found out they were related when the letter to Sirius arrived, while you were at your trial. The rest was through research."

Ron looked worried, "do you think he knows that Sirius is innocent?"

Harry looked at his hands. "We're the only ones that know."

Hermione looked at her watch, and yelled in a tone that made Ron and Harry jump about a foot in the air.

"We've got two days till we leave for Hogwarts and we've only covered up to Chapter Five! Come on you guys!"

Ron shuffled next to Harry, and murmured "do you think this is the best time to say that actually she's the only one who's got to Chapter Five, we've been plotting against Fred and George?"

Harry furiously shook his head. "It will NEVER be the best time to say that. EVER."


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on Mom! We're going to be late!" hollered Jazz, dragging her by the hand as they, Jack and Danny pelted through London, haring up Crestfield St, pelting through the traffic lights at Euston Rd, bursting in the main entrance to King's Cross, trolley stuffed with luggage, Maddie still trying to drag a brush through Danny's unruly mop and failing. In front, Jack was looking at the signs, lips moving as he tried to remember where Platform 9 ¾ was.

"Was it over by the MacDonald's, or was it near WHSmith?" he asked Maddie, and she sighed.

"Jack dear, it's there", and she pointed in front to the piece of wall in front, with people disappearing through it at regular intervals. Jack deflated.

"But I wanted to find it first ..."

Maddie patted his hand, and gave him a piece of fudge, before turning to Danny, who was wrestling with his trolley to try and turn it the right way round. However the trolley, in the great British Standard of all trolleys, was refusing to co-operate. Not even Danny's glaring and muttered threats of blasting it to the farthest reaches of the Ghost Zone were helping, and Jazz wasn't aiding the situation as she pointed and laughed at Danny's ineptitude.

"Jazz you're not helping in any way!" Danny cried out, drawing sniggers from every direction as the trolley ran over his foot. Maddie sighed – was it just her family where the males could be so brilliant, and yet so clueless at the same time?

"Come on Danny, Jazz and I can't come through, Muggles aren't allowed, so we'll say goodbye now." Leaning over, she gave Danny a huge hug, and scrubbed his face with a corner of her handkerchief.

"Mom!"

"Well if your hair won't co-operate, you can at least have a clean face!"

Jazz put her head in her hands. Sometimes, Danny could be more careful about picking his fights; at least he would then only be fighting ghosts.

"Now Danny, don't talk to Peeves, keep away from the revolving stairs on the third floor, always do your homework, and write at least once a week! Here," she passed a small cage over to Danny, in which resided a sleeping bird, head scrunched up into the space between its shoulders, mottled grey, black and silver plumage fluffed up like a little ball, and _is that a D on its chest?_ "Most of the other children will have one, he's very well trained, and he can carry any letters to us. We thought ... since he has a D on its chest, he'd be good for you." Maddie smiled, as Danny peered at the fluff ball, and smiled, his throat gaining a lump of sadness.

"I promise I'll be good Mom, Jazz ... Bye ... I'll miss you."

Jack took a hold of Danny's arm, and steered him towards the wall.

"Take a good run-up Danny, and don't stop until you get on the other side," and with a last look back at his waving mom and sister, Danny and Jack ran at the wall. Danny shut his eyes tight, hoping that he would go intangible, and then he and his dad appeared on the other side. Around them children said goodbye to families, trolleys were being pushed up and down the platform, steam whooshed from the waiting train, and the sound of slamming carriage doors echoed throughout the station. Jack leaned down, and hugged Danny.

"Now Danny, remember, have fun, and enjoy Hogwarts!"

"But Dad, what about the ghosts? What about home?" Danny refrained to mention that he was ready for any attacking while he was at Hogwarts, as a selection of gadgets were stuffed in his backpack.

"Don't worry Danny; Amity Park is well protected while your mother and I are around! Maybe we'll get Jazz to help us research ghosts!" Jack boomed, and Danny smiled an evil grin. At last Jazz would suffer ghost-hunting nights with Mom and Dad. With a clap upon Danny's shoulders, Jack hurried him onto the first available carriage. With a piercing screech the train whistle sounded, and almost every single owl inside the train answered, making a rolling wave of screeches that drowned out Jack's last words to Danny, as the train pulled away from the station. Faster and faster the wheels turned, rattling the windows, making Danny's arm ached as he continued waving from the door until his dad was out of sight, and he looked at his owl, which had just cracked open one bleary eye, and looked very peeved at being woken up. Swivelling its head from one side to the other, it finally looked at Danny, with a raised eyebrow that emanated _**WHY am I awake? Is there any reason?**_ Danny muffled a laugh, and looked down at the peevish fluff ball.

"Hey there little guy, shall we go and find a place to sit down? There must be a spare seat SOMEWHERE on this train."

The owl merely looked, as though it didn't care what Danny did, he was going to try and catch up on some sleep, before it had been rudely awoken. With a sigh, Danny hefted the cage under his arm, swung his backpack on his back, and went in search of a seat. Surely there'd be one somewhere?

-x-x-x-x-x-

"It's all your fault Ronald Weasley! If you hadn't got into an argument with Malfoy, we would have been able to meet Danny! Now he'll be lost on the train, with no one that knows him!" Hermione's haranguing of Ron echoed around the small compartment, and Harry looked desperately at Luna, who was blissfully unaware of the entire conversation. Harry was beginning to regret declining the offer of earmuffs from her - though they were originally to stop the effects of the Groniflack, an apparently dangerous creature that entered via your ears. Ron argued back just as fiercely, using his height to corner Hermione. Undeterred, she pulled her wand, and began the Jelly-Legs Jinx, as the door opened, and a head peeped around the door.

"Erm ... is there a spare seat here? Only I can't seem to find one anywhere", spoke Danny, his owl now hanging upside down from the bars, grumbling.

"Of course!" answered Luna, looking up, "and who might you be?"

Danny stared for a moment at the giant rainbow earmuffs, then shook his head, and held out his other hand for her to shake.

"The name's Danny, Danny Fenton." Luna looked at the hand, turned it upside down, and shook her head.

"It appears you are not loved by the Groniflacks either, I have a spare pair of earmuffs if you wish?" she asked, about to start rifling through her bag.

"It's okay Luna, he'll manage" spoke Harry, and Danny grinned in thanks, as he sat down, carefully placing the owl cage on his lap.

"My name's Harry, and the couple over there arguing are Ron and Hermione", replied Harry, and that moment, Hermione registered that a new person had entered the carriage, and that their name was Danny Fenton. She whirled round and shook his hand.

"Danny! I'm so sorry, we were to have met you at the station, but _**someone**_" - glaring at Ron - "couldn't stop himself from arguing with Malfoy."

Ron protested, "Hey Hermione, he called you a Mud Blood! What else was I going to do?"

"Use your brain! Chivalry is all very well and good, but it was more productive to find Danny!"

Harry turned to Danny, who was sitting there bemused, and stifled a laugh at the glare being sent by the owl at the two people who were interrupting its nap.

"I'm sorry, they're always like this. Did you find your way alright?"

"Yeh, Dad got me on the platform, why were you all supposed to meet me?" Danny replied, unconsciously scratching his hand, where a scar was red against his knuckles – a leftover from his fight with Ember a few weeks ago.

"Dumbledore, our headmaster said to meet you, 'cos he asked if we would help you out in the first few weeks of school, what with not going before" said Ron, who had latched onto the change of subject like a life raft – anything to stop Hermione yelling at him.

"Thanks guys, Dad was talking about nothing else for the last month or so, but I still have no idea what the place looks like let alone how to get to classes."

"It will be confusing, but read 'Hogwarts: a History' Danny, it'll help you find your way around, as well as tell you about the history of the place", Hermione said, apparently giving up on her argument with Ron, beginning to search her bag for the book. Danny however thought that she was too much like Sam, and therefore feared for Ron's safety. Ron apparently knew the signs, as he edged as far away from Hermione as he could without being noticed. Luna looked up from her magazine, and noticed the owl glaring at Hermione, and giggled.

"Danny, I didn't realise you had a snarkle! They're incredibly witty and droll!"

"Hang on, what?" asked Danny, confused, and then realised that Luna was looking at his owl. "Oh, you mean this little guy? Nah, he's an owl, just a grumpy little fluff ball one."

Hermione smiled, "does he have a name?"

Danny grinned. "Not yet, but I was thinking about calling him Inviso-Bill, what with the D on his chest. Might be a bit cruel though" he laughed.

"Inviso-Bill? The ghost-protector of Amity Park, Illinois?" spoke Luna, as she stared searchingly at Danny, much like Ollivander had a couple of weeks ago. Danny shivered, feeling her gaze rake him, and she smiled.

"Welcome Mr Bill" and she buried her head back into her magazine, while Danny had a mild heart attack at Luna's words. Harry, Hermione and Ron just shook their heads. The new guy still had to get used to Luna's weirdness.

"Anyway Danny, why would it be cruel?" asked Ron.

"Erm ... because people in Amity aren't really that fond of Inviso-Bill. Besides, it's a stupid name ... nah I think I'll call him ... Alo. When we were researching Native American tribes in sixth grade, mine was the Hopis. It's a good name for an owl", and he smiled at the fluff ball that had given up glaring, and was now trying to get back to sleep, occasionally emitting a grumpy "hoot". Looking out the window, he noticed the landscape was starting to slow down, and he looked at Harry, who realised the same.

"We must be pulling into Hogsmeade, it's where we stop. Time to get our uniform on."

Busying themselves with pulling on the large, unwieldy robes, and getting everything together, Danny didn't look outside until they had come off the train, and were heading to the horseless carriages. Looking up, at the horses that had no skin – or flesh – he shivered, determined not to react. _You've seen worse Danny, remember Skulker's lair?_ He admonished himself, and felt guilty about how Harry seemed convinced that he and Luna were the only ones that could see them. Juddering along the track, they turned the final corner and Danny gasped. There, a many-spired castle rose from the ground next to the lake, lights glittering in the night, a small flotilla of boats bobbing across the water, tentacles rising gracefully from the water. Harry looked at Danny's gobsmacked expression, and laughed.

"Didn't your dad tell you what Hogwarts looked like?"

Danny nodded, "doesn't mean he explained it though. Whoa ... it's WAY different to Casper High" he added, as the carriage halted, and the students headed towards the giant, imposing wooden doors, and the warm light within.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny almost developed whiplash his head was moving so fast, trying to see as much as he could. Harry and Hermione smiled, remembering their first time entering the castle, while Ron concentrated on forging a path through the crowds of people in the entrance hall. At the top of the stairs stood Professor McGonagall, herding bewildered first years into the space beside the doors into the Great Hall, and Hagrid busied himself collecting any stragglers. When the doors opened, the student body poured in, heading towards the House tables. Danny and the others headed up the stairs, and were all about to enter the Great Hall when Professor McGonagall grabbed the back of his collar.

"Not so fast Mr Fenton, first you must be sorted with the others, before you can sit at your respective House table."

Danny sighed in defeat, and waved the others. "Go on guys, I'll meet you inside." Nodding, Ron led the other away, Luna breaking free to skip over to Danny, pat him gently on the head, and smile, "I like you Bill."

The moment the doors closed behind the skipping fourth year, the first years bombarded Danny with questions, him trying to form coherent answers in the midst of the knowledge that Luna was possibly psychic. That or extremely weird.

"Is that your girlfriend?"

"No."

"You're taaaalll for a first year", asked a frowning girl.

"That's cos I'm a fifth year!"

"Do we have to fight a troll in order to be Sorted?" piped up a small voice, and when Danny searched for the owner, he found a small boy, smaller than all the other first years, tugging on his robes and asking in a fearful voice.

"I'm pretty sure we don't have to fight a troll, my Dad would have said if we had to." Satisfied, the tiny child turned and spoke excitedly with the others about what house they might be entered, and Danny thought to himself: _Well, considering that he didn't tell me I was a wizard until a month or so ago, it might have slipped his mind..._

Silently panicking, he watched the paintings chatter to themselves, walk between frames, and he wished that he could send a photo to Sam, Tucker, his family, hell he wished that technology could work with magic so that he could chat with them via e-mail and phone rather than using owl's and writing letters. His owl, he mused, would probably go on strike if he had to carry a letter rather than do what it wanted.

A sharp whistle from McGonagall had the small group form a ragged line in alphabetical order, and start walking through the tall, ornately carved Great Hall doors. As Danny passed them, his left hand – the one that Ember has slashed open with her guitar about a week before he found out about the magical world – clenched involuntarily with a stab of pain. Looking down, Danny swore quietly as the jagged line in his hand glowed a familiar ghostly green. His face blanched white; he stumbled, falling towards the floor. Luckily, his arm was caught by a tall fifth year.

"Hey, you okay?" asked the lanky boy worriedly.

"Yeh, I'm fine, I ... just tripped that's all" Danny shakily replied, hurrying to catch up with the first years, hiding his still clenched fist in his baggy sleeves. Standing still, catching his breath, he looked up briefly, and almost yelped as a ghost stared at him, frowning. Clad in chains, dripping pearly-white blood on the table, he stepped forward, growled briefly and stalked over to a fat priest who was regaling a group of students with tales of past and present. By now, the students around the two ghosts were looking curious, and started whispering amongst themselves, wondering why the Bloody Baron was deigning to talk any of the other ghosts, and Neville looked at Dean worriedly.

"Do you think they're planning something? I mean, it could be -" Dean cut him off with a laugh.

"Neville, when have the House ghosts co-operated? It's probably just the Bloody Baron complaining about the students already."

"I suppose", answered Neville, but inside he still worried, and he quickly looked over to the First years waiting to be Sorted to see whether the kid he helped up earlier was okay. In fact, he looked as scared as Neville was when his Grand-Mother had held Neville out of the window by his ankles, and he empathised. After all, Neville could remember being there, panicking 'cos Ron had spoken of having to battle a troll in order to be Sorted. A clap for attention drew Neville, and everyone's attention to the front of the hall, and Dumbledore stood up, spreading his arms in a gesture of welcome.

"Welcome, one and all, to another year of adventure and learning – maybe some of the knowledge will stay in your heads this year" he spoke, with a twinkle in his eye, students laughing with him – some turning bright red as they remembered their last test scores.

"Before we continue with the Sorting, I will remind you that the Forbidden Forest is STRICTLY out of bounds, and Mr Filch asks that all of you PLEASE remember to keep your feet off the tables and chairs, he does not wish to have to clean muddy footprints off them. Now, Mrs McGonagall, if you will," and he gestured to the Professor, who brought in a battered old hat, set upon a simple three-legged stool. A pause, as every first year seemed to deflate slightly. A hat? That wasn't nearly as exciting...

Danny, while breathing a sigh of relief, looked at the smallest of the first years and smiled, as he was visibly relieved that he didn't actually have to fight a troll. Turning back to the hat, he saw the brim separate itself from the top of the hat, and form a mouth, from which words issued in a loud projected voice. Eventually Danny figured out the hat was singing, but he wondered why it was spending so much time on emphasising unity and coalition between the Houses.

Judging by the murmurings of the other students, Danny wasn't the only one who seemed curious of the hat's warning, though Danny was more interested about how a hat would sort them – did they have to pull their name out of it? Over on the Gryffindor table, Nearly-Headless Nick looked worried. "Hmm ... the hat only tends to do that in times of need", he mused. Hermione looked at him, slightly nervous at his words.

Dumbledore smiled, and continued speaking. "If our new fifth year, Danny Fenton, may be sorted first, in order to reassure those first years who think we need to fight a troll in order to enter a House." Embarrassed laughs came from those first years, shifting nervously, and looking at Danny expectantly. Resigned, Danny straightened up, and started walking towards the hat. As he passed the smallest of the first years, his head briefly appeared from his robes to smile shyly, and Danny winked, as though there was nothing to be troubled about. Confidently he walked up to the hat, paused slightly to realise that he was to sit on the stool and place the hat upon his head, and then placed himself in that position.

If Sam or Tucker had been in that hall right then, they would have realised that Danny's facade of cool, calm, collectedness, was indeed that – a facade. Inside his head he was panicking that the hat was going to find his secret, yell it to the room, say that in fact he wasn't good for Hogwarts, and he visibly stiffened when a voice echoed inside his head.

_**And what makes you think I would be so imbecilic to yell your secret to the entire student body Daniel?**_

_Erm ... the fact that you're a disembodied hat voice? _He felt the hat chuckle before starting to speak.

_**Dear boy, I would never do such a thing. Now, to place you into a House ... hmm ... it would help if you calmed down slightly my boy, it is a terrible inconvenience to have sort through a whirlwind of thoughts I can tell you.**_

_Oh, erm, sorry ... Listen, do I get any in this? I mean, do I just have to go where you say?_

_**That depends if you truly do not wish to go in a particular House Mr Fenton, but it is a rare moment. After all, the House you are sorted in helps you to be become the greatest you can be. **_

The hat fell silent, musing.

_**Well you certainly have the self-sacrificing act down,**_ it eventually said, _**and the same applies to bravery. Though, that could be a problem. **_

_There's a problem with being brave and self-sacrificing?_

_**Ooh touchy aren't we Daniel ... you are intelligent, and you do have an open mind, but again, I don't believe you would be happy in Ravenclaw, they tend to live in the world of the abstract, and you my boy, are relatively straightforward.**_

_**Hmm ... Slytherin would help your self-confidence, and also help you to deal with your inner darkness.**_

_I don't WANT to deal with my darkness; it's gone, locked away in Clockwork's castle. I am NEVER letting it out._

_**Never? That's a very long time Mr Fenton, what if your friends were in danger, and that was the only way to save them?**_

_But -_

_**If you do not learn to accept that it's there, that there will be times to use it, it will consume you Daniel. **_

The heat paused again, and Danny felt its gaze (could hats have a gaze? Well, it could speak ...) rake over his body, stopping at his left hand...

_**... I see why you came now ... Mr Fenton I believe you would be able to accept all of yourself, channel your ambitions, and your resourcefulness here, and in good time too.**_

"SLYTHERIN!" was yelled across the hall, and Danny carefully lifted the hat off his head, and started walking to the cheering table. Looking across at the other tables, he saw Harry, Ron and Hermione looking at him in shock – it wasn't that bad was it? He met gazes with Luna, and she pulled a cross-eyed face. Danny grinned, and came to an empty seat.

"Hey guys, is it okay if I sit here?"

The others looked at him with curiosity and superiority combined in a graceful –yet arrogant -tilt of the head.

"Thanks ..." muttered Danny, as he carefully sat down on the bench, trying not to crease his new robes. From here, he saw the first years begin to be Sorted, the frowning girl from earlier apparently needing no deliberation, because as soon as the hat touched her head, it immediately yelled "RAVENCLAW!"

"Hmph", snorted a fellow fifth year, ice-blonde hair falling just short of his eyes, a frown on his face. "If it goes on like this, we won't end up with ANY new Slytherins." He turned, and looked Danny in the eye, running a measured glance across him. Apparently satisfied, he held out a hand for Danny to shake. "The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, and if you want to get ahead in Slytherin, it's best to be friends with ... the right people."

"Thanks for the advice," replied Danny, warily shaking his hand, feeling the same searching gaze apparently travel inside his mind. Panicked, he threw up an imaginary wall, and saw a curious, calculating look appear in the other's eye. "The name's Danny Fenton."

"Fenton? That doesn't sound like a wizarding family I've met before," mused Draco. "Do you have links with any other families?"

"I don't think so, I mean, I might, but Dad never said."

With a final look, Draco turned and carried on speaking to his fellow students about some holiday that his father took him to, with a sentence muttered under his breath that Danny only caught because of his heightened hearing: "Well, you're certainly interesting Mr Fenton ... especially with that scar ..."

If Danny hadn't heard the last sentence, or had been distracted by someone else, he would have carried on at Hogwarts – for now at least – without feeling so worried, or wary of the interest that everyone was currently having in his injuries. Unfortunately, the halfa knew that when it came to him, Sods Law was always in effect. Looking around, he noticed the shocked, almost disappointed looks in Ron, Hermione, Harry – even the lanky fifth year who had helped him up – and he wondered why. Dad hadn't elaborated on the House Rivalry, but surely it wasn't this bad?

Brought back to the present, he continued watching the Sorting, clapping politely when the first of the new students joined Slytherin, and wondered when he could ask Hermione what – without alerting her to the fact that he was a halfa – was the difference between the ghosts here, and the ghosts back in Amity Park. Why, for instance, did his ghost sense not go off like mad when it detected a ghost? There at least a hundred in the castle, if not more. Finally, he noticed the smallest of the first years – the same one who had been worried that they would have to fight a troll - head nervously to the hat. Turning to Draco, for he was the only one whose name Danny knew, he asked, "What did they say that kid's name was?"

Draco sneered. "You should learn to listen Danny, not everyone can explain the briefings" he said, smiling coldly. Luckily, the sixth year next to Danny helped him out, as with a bored tone he said, "Apparently his name was Nathaniel Cooper-Henderson. A rather long name for a very small individual."

Back at the hat, it seemed that Nathaniel was arguing with the hat, a glare given that rivalled Alo's affronted gaze at Hermione and Ron's argument. Eventually, Nathaniel won, and the hat cried out, "SLYTHERIN!" With an excited grin, Nathaniel shuffled down, and plonked himself down next to Danny, apparently un-noticing of the affronted stare of the sixth year he had squished out of his space in order to sit there.

"Hello!"

Caught off-guard by the happy greeting, Danny was further unbalanced by Nathaniel's enthusiastic shaking of everyone's hands around him. As Draco managed to pull himself free of Nathaniel's surprisingly strong grip, he spoke: "First years do **not** sit here Mr Cooper-Henderson, they sit at the _**end**_ of the table", and he pointed with a long finger to the far end of the table, where four very surprised first years sat.

Nathaniel waved a hand as though brushing away Draco's words, "that's a guideline, not a rule, besides you won't send me away, you're too curious." He looked closer at the fifth year, who was carefully folding a napkin with extreme displeasure. "Anyway, why would you send me away?"

"Because, I have known you for less than thirty seconds" Draco spoke through gritted teeth, "and you are already extremely annoying."

Danny tried to steer the conversation away from impending pounding of people – just in case it turned to him.

"Erm Nathaniel? You're ... not as shy as you were in the Entrance Hall. In fact, did you have a personality transplant while you were wearing the hat?"

Nathaniel looked at him with a searching look. "Of course not Danny! I was scared in the Entrance Hall that we'd really have to fight a troll – my father said I would" and a brief flash of displeasure crossed his face, and then disappeared, leaving him happy again. "But we didn't, I still have all my limbs -"

"For now", Draco growled, and the two hulking lumps next to him cracked their knuckles. Danny was transported back to Dash and Kwan's threats at Casper High, and he had a feeling that Draco was more dangerous than those two – maybe on a level with Vlad, or even ... him.

"So when do we get to mix with the other Houses?" Danny asked in a final attempt to change the subject, and Draco's glare turned to him.

"If you want to survive in Slytherin as more than a piece of battered flesh pleading for life and acceptance, you WON'T mix with the other Houses", and with a final, disapproving snort at Nathaniel and Danny, he turned and continued his retelling of his summer to a flock of girls.

Nathaniel looked at Danny, rather stunned.

"Woah ... I don't think anyone's gone from potential friend of Malfoy's to potential scumbag in less time than you."

Danny looked at him and at the imperceptible barrier between him and the rest of the House, and sighed.

"Well, I've got to break a record sometime ..." as he sunk into gloom...

-x-x-x-x-x-

"I can't believe that Danny went into Slytherin! I mean, he doesn't seem like the type who eat people alive, or even breathe the same evil air as Malfoy!" Ron somehow managed to make 'Malfoy' actually mean 'thing that crawls along the bottom of sewers'. Ron continued, hoping that Harry would eventually make an agreement, disagreement, something that wasn't thinking about Cedric Diggory's death that summer.

"...Hmm? ... Yeh, I mean, he actually seems like a nice guy" Harry eventually replied, "and how are we supposed to keep him out of trouble if he's in a completely different House?"

They both looked at Hermione, who sighed deeply.

"Well ... there's no actual rule against talking to the other Houses. I'm sure we wouldn't be penalised even so, after all, Dumbledore asked us to help Danny."

"But he's still in Slytherin!" Ron protested, "How are we supposed to co-operate with a Slytherin?"

Well the Sorting Hat certainly thought it possible Ronald" replied Hermione hotly. "Uniting within, making friends with the other Houses, we get on well enough with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, why not Slytherin? And don't you dare pull that argument of 'every bad wizard' was in that House because Grindlewald certainly wasn't!"

She calmed down slightly, and continued. "Danny seemed nice, I'm sure it won't be hard. What's more worrying, is how much the Ministry plan to meddle in Hogwarts ..."

"Oh that Umbridge woman? Dad's spoken about her before, apparently she's completely against half-breeds and Magical Creatures of any kind in her office – she ended up sacking Mr Gimble 'cos he has a dash of goblin in him" spoke Ron.

If anything, Hermione looked even more worried. "That means she'll be against Hagrid! And he's a full-time teacher now! Harry she'll try to get rid of Hagrid!"

"She wouldn't dare!" shouted Harry, a furious look on his face. "He's got more right than her to be here!"

"I know Harry", soothed Hermione, "but Hagrid's got to be careful, I mean ... she could be really dangerous Harry. As for us, I think we'd better keep a low profile in her lessons, at least till we're sure what she is planning."

"And Danny?" asked Ron, standing up and heading to the boy's dormitory.

"We'll see" spoke Harry, before Hermione had a chance to reply. "If he comes and talks to us, or if he acts like Malfoy" and without letting Hermione speak, Harry went up the stairs, throwing himself on his bed, ignoring of Seamus' hostile glares, of Dean's blank look, of everyone. As the room settled for the night, he heard Neville speak quietly: "I like Danny, he seemed like he'd be a good friend ..."

Harry lay un-moving, falling asleep with Ron, Hermione and Neville's words rolling in his head like a tidal wave...

-x-x-x-x-


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a month since Danny's arrival in Hogwarts, and the barrier still hadn't lifted between him and the rest of his House. The only person within Slytherin that still talked to him was Nathaniel, and that was due to the fact that his fellow first years refused to speak to someone that had annoyed Draco Malfoy. He hadn't shared any classes with the Gryffindors without Malfoy glaring at him in warning, so was unable to speak to Hermione, the other Houses refused to talk to him because he was a Slytherin – in fact, he mused while up in the Owlery, the only bright spot of Hogwarts so far was his Astronomy lessons and the fact that no ghosts had attacked him yet. He looked out at the autumn sunshine glinting off the spires of the castle, and down at his rather unamused owl, who was not happy to be woken up just to deliver a letter. He grinned, and stroked the owl's feathers.

"Come on Alo, Mom will feed you so much food you won't be able to fly for a week! Jazz and Sam will love you, and all you have to do is deliver this letter for me."

If an owl could 'humph', this one did, sticking a leg out for the letter to be tied to in a very resigned way.

"Cheers, now don't go get eaten by any other birds!" Danny said to the owl, which if possible, looked with an even greater 'humph'. _**Eaten? **_The owl seemed to say in a voice resembling of his Head of House, _**I would never suffer that indignity. **_With a final ruffle of its feathers, Alo hopped to the window-sill, and started the long journey to Amity Park. Danny looked wistfully out of the window, wishing that he could fly with Alo, at least feel the wind in his hair. A brief creak on the second-to the top stair made him turn round, watching with a slight hint of amusement as Nathaniel struggled up the stairs, and wandered over to Danny, levering himself up to sit next to him, his legs swinging slightly.

"So, how are you finding Hogwarts?" Danny asked, and Nathaniel gave him a grin as he replied.

"Better than you – at least the House like me."

Danny sighed- it was true. Even though he had annoyed most of the House during the Sorting Dinner, Nathaniel had made friends with the second years, and with the other Houses, in defiance of Draco's warning. What probably helped was that Nathaniel was so small and looked so innocent, that the other Hogwarts students were fooled into thinking that he was. The other thing that helped (for the Slytherins) was the jinxing of the first years in his dorm when they insulted him, leaving them with Jelly-Legs for a week. Danny, in his dorm, heard Draco's appreciation – at least of the jinxing, not of Nathaniel himself – and knew that Nathaniel at least, had people in the House that would be against unapproved mauling.

"Danny, look, why don't you try to be friends with Draco?"

If it were possible, Danny looked surprised by Nathaniel's question.

"Because I'm not like Crabbe and/or Goyle. He's ... dangerous, but not in a good way. I'd rather leave him alone, 'cos that way I can at least try to get on with everyone here."

"That won't happen Danny", replied Nathaniel seriously. "You're either for or against Slytherin in this school, and that means for or against Draco Malfoy. He's one of the most powerful pure-bloods in the school. I mean, not only is he a Malfoy, but his mum's a Black!"

"A Black?"

"Yeh, it's a really old wizarding family, it was purely Slytherin till Sirius joined Gryffindor, but it was – is – evil to the core."

"Sirius Black?" Danny remembered the conversation between his mom and dad the day that he found out he was a wizard.

"Yeh – he's the one who killed a load of Muggles, Harry Potter's parents, AND their best friend all on the same night -"

_I guess Mom was right – Uncle Sirius is a monster ..._ Danny realised Nathaniel had kept talking, and quickly returned his mind back to the conversation.

"- you're obviously not a full-blood otherwise Draco would know your family, you're too nice to be completely Slytherin ... are you sure you're in the right House?"

Danny blinked. "The Hat said I'd be better here."

"The Hat said I'd be better in Gryffindor, but that doesn't make it right. I don't need bravery, I have that in bucket loads, I need cunning, and Slytherin provides that for me. That, and Father wouldn't disown me if I went into Slytherin."

Danny looked at Nathaniel, who had a defiant look on his face.

"Your dad would disown you? Just for not being in Slytherin?"

"He's a great believer in being in the 'Right House' – it's just fortunate that Slytherin is actually the right one for me", and with that he hopped off the seat, looked back at Danny's miserable face and sighed.

"Look Danny, why don't you try and talk to Harry, or even those two friends of his?"

"What, Ron and Hermione? I would, but Draco's in all our shared lessons, and as much as I believe in standing up for people's rights, I'd like to not become fully dead." Nathaniel frowned at that sentence.

"Well, there is a solution to that, but you'd actually have to act like a Slytherin, not a goodie-two-shoe."

Danny looked back out of the window, down across the grounds, along the courtyards, near the lake, and saw three blobs walk past the lake, throwing something to the squid that lived inside the depths. Looking up at the sky, he saw the mountains begin to be tinged with gold light and red beams of sunset, and he shook himself, turning back to Nathaniel.

"That ... sounds like a plan Nathaniel", at which the first year smiled evilly.

"Well, let's get scheming!" and with a laugh between the two, they headed back down the Owlery steps towards the Slytherin Common Room.

-x-x-x-x-x-

It finally came to the day when he shared a class with Gryffindor – and unlike Potions – where he could actually speak without being glared at by his Head of House. Whistling as he headed down to Hagrid's hut, ignoring the glares sent by Crabbe and Goyle (or as he liked to call them, Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee), Danny fairly bounced along the path to the group gathering outside. Finally! He could talk to Hermione, Ron and Harry. As he approached the trio, he saw the startled looks appear from the other Gryffindors, the disgusted looks from the Slytherins, and he waved brightly.

"Hey guys! How's it going?"

Ron actually did a double-take at the cheery greeting.

"Danny? But ... you don't talk to us. Ever."

Danny's smile threatened to escape from his face.

"Yeh, but that was before Draco became unable to come to any lessons for the rest of the week, he's stuck in the Hospital Wing."

Harry looked at him worriedly – it looked as though any moment Danny would start singing, or break into dance.

"And if we were to ask why this is?" Hermione interjected, eyes narrowing suspiciously, "and anyway, the rest of the Slytherins will report to him, you know that."

"What, Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee?" answered Danny innocently, Harry trying vainly to disguise his burst of laughter as a coughing fit. "Nah, they won't 'cos Draco's in isolation. No one can see him for a week, and by the time the week's over, they'll have forgotten all about it."

"What happened?" asked Harry, by now having recovered.

"Apparently someone sent him an envelope full of Botuber pus, it exploded all over his hands, and he went to try and get the worst off before he went to Madame Pomfrey, only -" (and here Danny was trying to prevent himself laughing) " - someone rigged the dorm door to set off a load of jinxes in his bed. He looked like some sort of horrible, disfigured blob as he was levitated out the room!"

Hermione giggled, before asking Danny, "Who did it?"

"No idea who did it, sorry, but I'd like to shake them by the hand." Inside his head, Danny was reliving the moment where, invisible and intangible, he watched the explosion, knowing that Nathaniel was currently in the Great Hall and therefore unable to be blamed, and that he was 'in the Library', reading up on the history of Hogwarts, and couldn't be blamed either.

He shook himself, and came back to the present, where Ron was still looking warily at him.

"How do we know that you're not plotting something?" he asked suspiciously, and Danny shrugged.

"You don't, but I'm fed up of not being able to speak to people outside Slytherin – to speak to anyone really, and I'd like to have more than one – well, two – friends before I leave Hogwarts."

Ron nodded, apparently satisfied – for now at least – that Danny was telling the truth. After all, the entire school knew of Danny being ostracised from his House until he was 'proven' to be acceptable.

"So, what animal that's apparently cute and cuddly, but yet will rip our arms off, is Hagrid showing us this week?" asked Danny. "I mean, I love them when they're not trying to eat me, but I don't think that Umbridge ... thing ... what's that British word, git? Yeh, git, I don't think she'll like them." At that statement, Hermione frowned, looking at the Hut where Hagrid had just appeared.

"I know ...", and then she became absorbed in working out how to actually feed a Blast-Ended Skrewt without having her arms torn off. Beside her, Ron and Harry were having the same difficulties, and Danny was busy muttering under his breath that he would never complain about cleaning the possessed fridge again. Hermione looked at him strangely, and he turned and grinned.

"Well, you can't deny it; we could market these as guard dogs. We'd make a fortune if we could work out how to stop them trying to kill their owner."

Hermione giggled. "I can see the marketing now – '_no longer will you need a guard dog to get rid of unwanted guests, just tell them you have a hungry Blast-Ended Skrewt!_".

"Exactly – we could set it on Umbridge, and watch the results ... preferably from a long way away."

Hermione grimaced, as a fireball came close to singeing her eyebrows. "That would be too good for her – the absolute git!"

Danny shook her head, relaxing his grip on his Skrewt for a brief instant as he replied: "You know, I don't understand why Dumbledore hired her if she's such a cow. And also, why are British insults so weird?"

"They're not weird, they're old!" Hermione replied, and then saw in horror, that Danny's Skrewt was free, and swelling up, glowing brighter and brighter. "Oh God Danny!" she screamed, and he turned a fraction of a second too late, as the Skrewt – apparently angry and bored with life – exploded. The resulting fireball grew as Hermione's Skrewt exploded as well, and she watched the ever-nearing explosion come closer, until with almost un-human quickness, Danny dived on top, forcing her to the ground. The fireball roared overhead, she could feel the heat as it flew past them, until it was drenched in water by every student there. Hermione gasped for air, her throat dry, and she looked up to see Danny grimace, his eyes shut with pain.

"Danny ... are you alright?" asked Hermione worriedly. Danny didn't answer, until he opened his eyes and grinned weakly. However Hermione didn't fail to notice a brief flash of green from his eyes as he opened them, revealing blue.

"Yeh – I don't think I'm gonna go near one of those things for a while," he smiled, as he rolled off Hermione and pulled her up, without any apparent burns or injuries. Hermione checked herself over, and saw that apart from the mud they landed in, she too was unmarked. She gave a questioning look to Danny, who raised his hands in an 'I'm innocent' gesture. Luckily for Danny, Hermione was unable to ask what exactly happened, as by that point Hagrid had hurried over, fear in his eyes, beside him Ron looked panicked, Harry worried, and the rest of the class huddled behind Hagrid as though something else might happen at any moment.

"Hermione, you alright? And Danny are you okay?" Hagrid asked, and Danny smiled apologetically.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Sir, it was my fault. I let go and I wasn't paying attention. I promise it won't happen again, I mean it."

Hagrid shook his head. "That's quite alright, I'm just glad you're all okay, imagine what would have happened if you lot got hurt in my class!" As he ended the session, and everyone started to trudge up the hill, Ron turned to Danny.

"...Thanks." he said awkwardly, and Danny looked – if anything, slightly embarrassed by the attention.

"Please, don't mention it."

As they reached the Great Hall and Danny prepared to trudge down to the dungeons, Harry caught his arm.

"Listen, we're heading to Hogsmeade in a couple of weeks, fancy coming with us?", and Danny beamed.

"Sure! Can't wait – maybe I'll get to see that joke shop, send some stuff back to Tucker and Sam!" and with a noticeable spring in his step, Danny waved goodbye to the trio and headed down the stairs.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, and if Danny had been around to see the determined look on her face, he would have run away in terror – she didn't know what was going with Danny Fenton, but by Merlin she was going to find out...

-x-x-x-x-x-

Jazz was busy clearing up the latest attempt to stop Jack Fenton's ectoplasm enhanced sausages from taking over the kitchen, when there was a consistent tapping on the window. Looking out, she saw the same owl which they had given to Danny sitting on the window-sill, a large letter attached to its foot, looking very disgruntled.

"Hey there little fella" Jazz said, as she quickly unbolted the window, and the owl hopped to the table. Deigning to acknowledge the other human, he lifted his leg out; with a look of _**will you PLEASE remove this infernal article from my leg?**_

Jazz couldn't help it, as she removed the letter she let out an "awwwww...", and with it was possible for an owl to glare, this one did. Puffing himself up, the 'D' emblazoned on his chest, he gave a look of _**I am NOT 'awwww', I am an owl. Now let me go and sleep you... human!**_

Jazz apologised, trying to hide the grin from her face, and Alo flew to the banister where he tucked his head in, and snored little owl snores. Jazz recognised the blotchy handwriting as Danny's, smiling as she headed to the couch to read it before Mom and Dad came home. As she sat, she saw the ink-blot on the table, a reminder of Danny's struggle to manage a quill. Jazz of course had managed perfectly, but at the end of a page, Danny had splattered the room, himself, and the paper with ink and hardly any of the words had been legible. She snuggled herself into the couch, carefully opened the letter, and started reading.

_**Dear Mom, Dad, Jazz, Sam and Tucker,**_

_**Sorry for the late letter, I've managed to settle in okay, I've even made some friends! Luna is very knowledgeable about Amity Park and the ghosts and Nathaniel is helping me fit in with the rest of my House. I was Sorted into Slytherin, and I was wondering exactly how bad the House Rivalries were like when you went Dad. Right now, they could be worse, but I was wondering if you had any tips?**_

_**Astronomy is amazing, we have our lesson at night at the top of the Astronomy Tower, and the stars are so easy to see from there! There's no electrical light in Hogwarts, so no light pollution, it makes the sky so clear! There isn't any electricity at all Tucker, so you wouldn't be able to survive if you came here :P**_

_**Defence against the Dark Arts was interesting – the difference between Umbridge and Dumbledore is almost as big a difference as between Lancer and Mrs Tetslaff – but I should be getting the hang of it soon.**_

_**Oh, I've called the owl Alo; I figured it was a good name, what with all the interesting ghosts that are around Hogwarts! Don't worry about him being grumpy, I think he's like it all the time, he's as bad as me in the morning :P**_

_**Mom, Dad, is there any difference between the ghosts at Hogwarts and the ghosts in Amity Park? They look different, and when the Hogwarts ghosts are around, it doesn't get so cold I can see my breath! **_

_**Anyway, I've got Care of Magical Creatures again on Monday, so I should see Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger again, I was wondering if I should tell them about being related to Sirius Black, or is that a 'no-no' subject?**_

_**Oh, I've met someone called Draco Malfoy – you'd love him Sam and Tucker, he's just as nice as me – but in about twenty years, not right now!**_

_**Jazz you'd love the library, there are SO many books it's almost unbelievable how they all fit. I've obviously haven't been spending time in there – what with me being allergic to books ha-ha – but I've had a brief look about the shelves, and if you ever got in here, we'd NEVER be able to drag you out xD**_

_**Well, got to go now, I'll write soon**_

_**Lots of love,**_

_**Danny :-)**_

Jazz looked back over the letter, and sighed deeply. She had hoped Danny wouldn't have made any enemies yet, but apparently he had. Draco Malfoy ... she took the letter upstairs, laughing quietly at Alo's little owl snores, and found a pen and paper, beginning to copy Danny's letter, and start a reply. Downstairs, Alo looked up briefly. Finding nothing to eat, he flew to the kitchen, noticing a plate of sausages on the table. Well, in the absence of fresh mouse...

Jazz was in the middle of copying down Danny's letter, when she heard hooting coming from ... the kitchen?

"Oh God, the ectoplasmic sausages!" Jazz yelled, pelting down the stairs. She really didn't want to have to explain to Danny how his brand new owl had been eaten by a plate of sausages. Bursting in the door, she saw Alo sitting on the table, a broken plate spinning wildly, and a sausage pinned under his claws. He looked up, hoicked the sausage in the air, and it disappeared down his throat with a pitiful scream. Alo gave a little burp, looked at Jazz, and if owls could lick their beaks, this one did so. A final glance at the scene of victory, and Alo went back to sleep, leaving Jazz with the problem of how to explain to Jack Fenton that Danny's owl had eaten the ectoplasm enhanced sausages, and survived.

-x-x-x-x-


End file.
